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“In-store sounds
What’s in store at record shops: Band performances, readings, more going on”
By Benjamin Ortiz, Special to the Chicago Tribune
Section: On the Town
Date: July 4, 2008


Record shops give you something that even the most interactive music Web site can’t—someone who knows what you like and gives you a pile of great dusty grooves to sort through.
Shops have taste or a certain style, and that’s why you’re there. Reckless, Jazz Record Mart, the Apple Store all have a feel.
You can think of an in-store performance as a shopping soundtrack or an event. Either way, it’s like closing the link between past and future. You’re at Reckless, hearing some little post-punk band on your music player, and the band members are in the flesh.
Yet in an age when the biggest music retailer (iTunes) is virtual, Chicagoans are still looking to real time for a place littered with LPs, dusty acoustics and real sound. Area music shops subsist on a hunger for the good-old days and the hope for brand-new sounds. With turntables popping up again bearing USB ports and iPod jacks, vinyl recordings are set for a comeback, as bands put tracks onto 180-gram vinyl and play to select crowds at tune boutiques.
Let’s face it: Some pieces of vinyl have seen more parties than you have. So take the time trip with other fans picking over the past for a sense of musical soul to see what you unearth from the crates.
Music shop performances aren’t just for record promotions any longer. Now they’re but one sign that a local shop is truly committed to its neighborhood. The store gets buzz, and you get to see a cool band for free. This is true even as leaner stores find themselves with less space and fewer acts willing to play for free.
“In-store events are not a guaranteed turnout,” says David Hofer, a Chicago-area native and buyer at Reckless Records. And yet “that’s what you do when you like bands—you champion them.”
With an army of clerks familiar with the local scene, Reckless picks up on tips about bands that might draw a crowd, especially underage fans who can’t get into some venues. At a recent Reckless event, Jesael Espinoza brought his two young sons, to hear California-based flamenco/R&B jammers Cryptacize at the chain’s Wicker Park store. The kids were able to play with the instruments, and adults who might have caught the band the night before at Schubas could talk to the band after its brief set.
Far from the Wicker Park indie scene, The Old School Records of Forest Park sees itself as an oasis for its West suburban community of customers, musicians and fans. “We are custodians of culture,” says co-owner Jodi Gianakopoulos of the shop that specializes in R&B, soul, jazz and reggae.
With a hyper-local focus, Old School also frequently arranges on-site events, with an outdoor sidewalk set-up when possible. At June’s annual Forest Park Summerfest, Old School had writer and regular customer Stephanie Kuehnert read from her rock-inspired novel “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone” and perform covers of songs by Sleater-Kinney and Social Distortion. In addition, over the event’s two days, a dozen up-and-coming area DJs spun everything from Afrobeat to disco and stepping sets.
Gianakopoulos sees her commercial and neighborhood efforts as a unified endeavor. “We work ridiculously hard to survive and we can’t without [community] help.”
At the other end of the spectrum, the Michigan Avenue Apple Store, with its sleek counters, reflective surfaces and pristine white workstations, is the incarnation of the new music landscape.
Yet like the grungy Reckless and friendly Old School, Apple hosts in-stores as well.
These might be for iTunes cross-promotion, or local DJ nights that showcase performers as well as the Apple music gizmos. Set up at a mobile turntable cart, the first-floor DJ expo draws window shoppers and store browsers to a buzz that is like white noise humming beneath the sound of commerce.
In the halls of Apple, it’s a stretch to imagine a shop such as Untitled, where DJs of yesteryear spun vinyl all night long for hyped-up crowds. Sylia Yi, senior buyer at Untitled, has been around since the store opened in 1990 as a hub for DJ culture.
“Our turntables have been a starting point for world-renowned DJs and producers,” Yi says.
From its early days, Untitled has been the one-stop place to go for gear, fliers, show tickets and free DJ sets. The rave scene is long gone, but Untitled still hosts DJ sets at three of its four locations every Saturday. Local hip-hopper Anacron Allen spins regularly at the shops because “I have free rein to stretch out and play how I really like.”
In Ukrainian Village, Permanent Records’ back wall is a tight fit for the Warlocks’ brief set before the band heads off to a Logan Square gig. About 50 people file between the music bins, some just looking for a deal, most focused on the Warlocks. The atmospheric reverb echoes against walls plastered with funky posters, and grateful applause heartily lifts to the ceiling and out the door.
With an eclectic selection of new and used stuff plus friendly clerks ready to chew the fat like the guys in “High Fidelity,” Permanent feels like a rock happening and bills itself as a community space, having hosted movie screenings and listening parties. Owner Lance Barresi also says the store produces recordings on 180-gram vinyl, because “we personally find vinyl more appealing than CDs.”
A short ride from Permanent takes you to 18th Street, where Revolver Records rocks the bells for South Side hip-hoppers, DJs and fans. Marlon Hernandez hails from Wrigleyville but fell in love with the Pilsen community, where his Mexican parents met and where he opened his shop a few years ago. He’s just another Chicagoland kid who imagined owning a record store. But he actually did it, and his 650-square-foot shop—decorated with local Latino art and heaps of dusty 45s—regularly hosts music and art shows and parties.
“One of the bigger events I had was when Kafele and JoJo, drummer for Fela Kuti and Africa ’70, played live for one hour nonstop,” he remembers. Like other shop owners, he’s involved in his adopted neighborhood and sees himself as a teacher of forgotten sounds. His store can transfer your records to digital format, but he’d much rather talk about the defunct, portable turntable in his display window.
“Analog is a really good sound,” he says. “It’s beautiful. It’s warmth.”
Back at Reckless, Hofer says crowds don’t show up sometimes, even for popular groups, such as when The Brian Jonestown Massacre played in front of five people. But he’s enthusiastic about the authentic music experience.
“There’s not a lot of record stores left in general, so we try and make ours as special as possible.”
LINKS:
Apple Store (North Michigan Avenue)
The Old School Records (Forest Park)
Permanent Records (Ukrainian Village)
Reckless Records (multiple locations)
Revolver Records (Pilsen)
Untitled (multiple locations)

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